God’s Wonderful Choice! - Romans 9:19-29
By Pastor Lee Hemen
February 11, 2007 AM
People often have a wrong view of who God is. There are those who want to see Him as a lovable old man sitting upstairs in heaven in a comfy rocking chair benignly looking down on His lovable but bumbling creatures. Then there are others who view God as a malevolent being, gleefully waiting for His creations to mess up just so He can zap them into delightful submission. Still others look at God as an unknowing and uncaring entity. An ultimate being that exists but does not get involved and allows us to live in a universe that He has set spinning into motion, only to live our miserable lives out and then die an ignoble death. None of these views of God is biblical or correct. All neglect the fact of Jesus, God’s Son, coming into the world. The correct way to view God is through Jesus Christ, because when we do we get a better view of God, who He is, and of God’s wonderful choice.
Paul understood this. He did because he personally had a relationship with Jesus as his Savior and Lord. It is only from this kind of vantage point that we can get a clear picture of who God truly is and what He is like. Anything else is but inadequate speculation. It is kind of like trying to describe a baseball game to someone who has never heard of baseball before. Believe me, I have tried to do so. Just as incomprehensible as the rules and nuances of something like a manmade sport can be, imagine what it is like when those who do not know God try to understand Him, or how difficult it can be for those of us who do know Him to describe who He is and how He loves us! In fact, Paul begins to do just that to his Jewish brothers because he longed for them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Paul wanted his readers to understand God’s wonderful choice. Let’s find out how…
READ: Romans 9:19-29
I can remember standing perplexed and horrified at what my Dad had just shared with me. He actually told me that because I was a boy, who was becoming a gentleman, I could not pound into the ground the girl who shoved me at school. When I whined back my disbelief and the unfairness of this “doctrine of Dad,” he replied, “Lee, enough! Real men act like real men, no matter what.” It was part of my father’s mindset. His upbringing and his moral code of conduct. Real men, treated girls and thereby later, women, with dignity and respect. No matter what. In reading the Bible I have learned that God does something similar. He operates within a moral construct. Paul understood this as well and teaches us that part of understanding God’s wonderful choice is found in knowing that…
I. God’s freedom operates within a moral framework! (vv. 19-24)
1. Human logic cannot and sometimes dares not harmonize divine sovereignty and human freedom! Why? Because God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways! (Isaiah 55:8) Yet the question would arise that if God is all powerful and sovereign, “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” Instead of answering with such an obvious response, Paul goes to the heart of the issue when he retorts “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” Paul knew that the provisions of God’s grace are boundless, and in knowing that, the “pottery” has no right to question the “potter.” It is absurd. If it is God’s creation, His universe, His plan, then how in the world could the “lump,” the created thing, question the Creator? Humans, however, are not hapless robots because in His infinite mercy God does not totally judge those now that He knows will one day reject Him, nor does He neglect the ones who come to Him freely! Paul states that “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” It is God’s choice! Anyone who turns to Him has already received, now receives, and will one day receive divine mercy! God’s freedom operates within a moral framework!
EXAMPLE: I graphically learned the lesson of treating young ladies like ladies when I said something quite unnecessary to my older sister. Now, we could tease one another, make jokes, and even get into scuffles as long as it was done in sibling rivalry and not meant to be malicious. However, one day when my sister, Laili, had been kind of a pill because she could not go be with her friends for the day, she took her dark mood out on Ed and I. Sadly, my father only heard and saw my revengeful act. I can only remember screaming something about her being “ugly,” and that no one in their right mind would want her as a “friend.” And, oh yeah, that her “so-called friends were probably glad she did not go with them, because she was soooo ugly!” You get the idea. I learned several things that day. 1) Check to see if Dad is home or not, 2) Never get so ugly with my words, and 3) Expect my father to teach me how a “correct young man is supposed to act” to his sister. Like I said before, my father had a moral code of conduct. Paul understood that God did too. In fact, so great is God’s, that in His mercy He chose to provide a way for sinful people, who could have cared less, a way for them to receive His mercy! You see, God’s freedom works within a moral framework.
When my father sat me down to discuss with me just how a young gentleman was supposed to act, he shook his head. “Lee,” he related, “I am surprised at you. Are you sure you want to be a part of this family?” (Of course if I had my choice, my sister would have been put up for adoption right then!) After my father’s unsympathetic lecture on how to treat young ladies as young ladies and how young men are supposed to act, I was in tears. I questioningly snuffled up at him, “Can I still be a part of this family?” Surprised, and laughing a bit, he replied, “Certainly! You will always be a part of this family! Even when you act like a little Vandal! You are a Hemen no matter what!” I was glad. The same kind of relief can be found in what Paul is teaching us here in Romans. He tells us that…
II. God freely chooses to make those who are not His people, His people! (vv. 25-29)
1. When God’s eternal covenant was broken by the sinful actions of His people, God provided that His people would ultimately be provided for! Paul uses the examples of Old Testament passages to illustrate this point and bring his teaching into context. The Jews understood that there would be and was only a remnant, a small portion of Hebrews, who had been saved from destruction. Paul deftly and correctly applies this to anyone, Jew or non-Jew, whom now comes to Jesus: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” “Lo-Ammi” means “not my people,” and “Lo-Ruhamah,” means “not the object of my affection.” Paul knew that “they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” Although only a “remnant will be saved,” the Jews would be numerous “like the sand by the sea,” because of all the Gentiles who would be grafted in as chosen people by faith. If this were not true, then the Israelites would be as extinct as Sodom and Gomorrah! It was God’s plan all along. God freely chooses to make those who are not His people, His people!
EXAMPLE: As I went slowly back to my room, Laili was standing by the doorway. I looked up at her and she put her hand on my head. She then grabbed me by both of my ears, pulled my face close to hers, and whispered, “You were the one who was adopted! We found you on the way here from Wyoming somewhere in Idaho! That’s why you are such a spud!” Then she hugged me and gave me quick kiss on the cheek. I went off and got ready for bed knowing that I was indeed part of the family. Who else would have a sister who could one minute infuriate you and then be almost nice! Paul knew that we may not always understand how and why God did what He did, but in His will and way God freely chooses to make those who are not His people, His people. Who are we to question God?
Conclusion:
God’s freedom operates within a moral framework! God freely chooses to make those who are not His people, His people!
By Pastor Lee Hemen
February 11, 2007 AM
People often have a wrong view of who God is. There are those who want to see Him as a lovable old man sitting upstairs in heaven in a comfy rocking chair benignly looking down on His lovable but bumbling creatures. Then there are others who view God as a malevolent being, gleefully waiting for His creations to mess up just so He can zap them into delightful submission. Still others look at God as an unknowing and uncaring entity. An ultimate being that exists but does not get involved and allows us to live in a universe that He has set spinning into motion, only to live our miserable lives out and then die an ignoble death. None of these views of God is biblical or correct. All neglect the fact of Jesus, God’s Son, coming into the world. The correct way to view God is through Jesus Christ, because when we do we get a better view of God, who He is, and of God’s wonderful choice.
Paul understood this. He did because he personally had a relationship with Jesus as his Savior and Lord. It is only from this kind of vantage point that we can get a clear picture of who God truly is and what He is like. Anything else is but inadequate speculation. It is kind of like trying to describe a baseball game to someone who has never heard of baseball before. Believe me, I have tried to do so. Just as incomprehensible as the rules and nuances of something like a manmade sport can be, imagine what it is like when those who do not know God try to understand Him, or how difficult it can be for those of us who do know Him to describe who He is and how He loves us! In fact, Paul begins to do just that to his Jewish brothers because he longed for them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Paul wanted his readers to understand God’s wonderful choice. Let’s find out how…
READ: Romans 9:19-29
I can remember standing perplexed and horrified at what my Dad had just shared with me. He actually told me that because I was a boy, who was becoming a gentleman, I could not pound into the ground the girl who shoved me at school. When I whined back my disbelief and the unfairness of this “doctrine of Dad,” he replied, “Lee, enough! Real men act like real men, no matter what.” It was part of my father’s mindset. His upbringing and his moral code of conduct. Real men, treated girls and thereby later, women, with dignity and respect. No matter what. In reading the Bible I have learned that God does something similar. He operates within a moral construct. Paul understood this as well and teaches us that part of understanding God’s wonderful choice is found in knowing that…
I. God’s freedom operates within a moral framework! (vv. 19-24)
1. Human logic cannot and sometimes dares not harmonize divine sovereignty and human freedom! Why? Because God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways! (Isaiah 55:8) Yet the question would arise that if God is all powerful and sovereign, “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” Instead of answering with such an obvious response, Paul goes to the heart of the issue when he retorts “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” Paul knew that the provisions of God’s grace are boundless, and in knowing that, the “pottery” has no right to question the “potter.” It is absurd. If it is God’s creation, His universe, His plan, then how in the world could the “lump,” the created thing, question the Creator? Humans, however, are not hapless robots because in His infinite mercy God does not totally judge those now that He knows will one day reject Him, nor does He neglect the ones who come to Him freely! Paul states that “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” It is God’s choice! Anyone who turns to Him has already received, now receives, and will one day receive divine mercy! God’s freedom operates within a moral framework!
EXAMPLE: I graphically learned the lesson of treating young ladies like ladies when I said something quite unnecessary to my older sister. Now, we could tease one another, make jokes, and even get into scuffles as long as it was done in sibling rivalry and not meant to be malicious. However, one day when my sister, Laili, had been kind of a pill because she could not go be with her friends for the day, she took her dark mood out on Ed and I. Sadly, my father only heard and saw my revengeful act. I can only remember screaming something about her being “ugly,” and that no one in their right mind would want her as a “friend.” And, oh yeah, that her “so-called friends were probably glad she did not go with them, because she was soooo ugly!” You get the idea. I learned several things that day. 1) Check to see if Dad is home or not, 2) Never get so ugly with my words, and 3) Expect my father to teach me how a “correct young man is supposed to act” to his sister. Like I said before, my father had a moral code of conduct. Paul understood that God did too. In fact, so great is God’s, that in His mercy He chose to provide a way for sinful people, who could have cared less, a way for them to receive His mercy! You see, God’s freedom works within a moral framework.
When my father sat me down to discuss with me just how a young gentleman was supposed to act, he shook his head. “Lee,” he related, “I am surprised at you. Are you sure you want to be a part of this family?” (Of course if I had my choice, my sister would have been put up for adoption right then!) After my father’s unsympathetic lecture on how to treat young ladies as young ladies and how young men are supposed to act, I was in tears. I questioningly snuffled up at him, “Can I still be a part of this family?” Surprised, and laughing a bit, he replied, “Certainly! You will always be a part of this family! Even when you act like a little Vandal! You are a Hemen no matter what!” I was glad. The same kind of relief can be found in what Paul is teaching us here in Romans. He tells us that…
II. God freely chooses to make those who are not His people, His people! (vv. 25-29)
1. When God’s eternal covenant was broken by the sinful actions of His people, God provided that His people would ultimately be provided for! Paul uses the examples of Old Testament passages to illustrate this point and bring his teaching into context. The Jews understood that there would be and was only a remnant, a small portion of Hebrews, who had been saved from destruction. Paul deftly and correctly applies this to anyone, Jew or non-Jew, whom now comes to Jesus: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” “Lo-Ammi” means “not my people,” and “Lo-Ruhamah,” means “not the object of my affection.” Paul knew that “they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” Although only a “remnant will be saved,” the Jews would be numerous “like the sand by the sea,” because of all the Gentiles who would be grafted in as chosen people by faith. If this were not true, then the Israelites would be as extinct as Sodom and Gomorrah! It was God’s plan all along. God freely chooses to make those who are not His people, His people!
EXAMPLE: As I went slowly back to my room, Laili was standing by the doorway. I looked up at her and she put her hand on my head. She then grabbed me by both of my ears, pulled my face close to hers, and whispered, “You were the one who was adopted! We found you on the way here from Wyoming somewhere in Idaho! That’s why you are such a spud!” Then she hugged me and gave me quick kiss on the cheek. I went off and got ready for bed knowing that I was indeed part of the family. Who else would have a sister who could one minute infuriate you and then be almost nice! Paul knew that we may not always understand how and why God did what He did, but in His will and way God freely chooses to make those who are not His people, His people. Who are we to question God?
Conclusion:
God’s freedom operates within a moral framework! God freely chooses to make those who are not His people, His people!
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